Private sector workers likely will see higher annual pay increases later this year, according to the final second quarterWage Trend Indicator (WTI)released today byBNA, a leading publisher of specialized news and information.

The WTI rose to 98.21 (second quarter 1976 = 100), up from 98.01 in the first quarter. The index has climbed steadily over the past year.

"Labor market conditions in the private sector are still improving, although very slowly," economist Kathryn Kobe, a consultant who maintains and helped develop BNA's WTI database, said. "At the same time, there is a lot of uncertainty about the forward momentum in the economy, and the WTI's forecast depends on the labor market continuing to improve,"Kobesaid.

The overall rate of annual pay increases for wage and salary workers is expected to accelerate to around 2.0 percent, up from a 1.6 percent gain as of the first quarter of 2011, according to the Department of Labor's latest employment cost index (ECI).

Reflecting recent labor market conditions, five of the WTI's seven components made positive contributions to the final second quarter reading, while one factor was negative and one was neutral.